Mercadona launches Atenea AI platform for software development

Spanish supermarket chain Mercadona has launched Atenea, a proprietary artificial intelligence platform designed to optimize its software development lifecycle. Developed by the company’s IT division, the platform is already being utilized by more than 500 engineers to increase speed, consistency, and productivity.

Atenea functions by integrating Mercadona’s specific business knowledge, technical standards, internal processes, and quality benchmarks. Rather than replacing human professionals, the platform acts as an extension of technical teams, using specialized AI agents to execute specific tasks autonomously while allowing engineers to retain final decision-making authority.

According to CTO Sergio Pajares, the goal is to create a development method that is more closely aligned with business needs. To facilitate adoption, Mercadona has established a network of ‘early adopters’ across various IT domains, including security, infrastructure, and operations, to mentor other engineering teams. This initiative is part of a broader technological strategy that includes using AI for employee scheduling, invoice processing, and product data management.